Joey Barton’s boy’s dugout joy and subs mix-up - Moments missed in Bristol Rovers draw with Shrewsbury

Bristol Rovers opened up the scoring of a tense affair with just over 20 to go, when Ryan Loft was found by Aaron Collins. The striker firmly curling the ball into the bottom corner.

However it was even with ten left, after a Luke Leahy corner fell to the feet of Ryan Bowman, and the striker couldn’t miss from six yards out,

The Gas started more dominant, with Harry Anderson’s header 25 minutes in being the best chance of the game up to then, however to Shrewsbury keeper Marko Marosi’s relief the ball struck the post.

A scrappy, stop-start first half was finished with a host of Shrewsbury pressure and seven, yes seven minutes added time.

The opener was against the run of play in the second half with long spells of Salop pressure ruptured when Aaron Collins picked up the ball just beyond his own half, running forward before slotting in Loft. The substitute made no mistake in placing the ball beneath Marko Marosi.

The away side evened the score ten minutes later after some more Shrewsbury pressure led to a corner, the Gas continued their trend of conceding from set pieces when Bowman found himself unmarked in the box.

Rovers ended their two match losing streak, however no doubt Joey Barton would’ve hoped for a better result. Nevertheless here’s our moments you might’ve missed from the draw.

More injury difficulties

It was revealed before kick off that centre back James Connolly was missing from the lineup with a stress fracture in the bottom of his back, meaning the 20 year old will miss at least a month - says manager Joey Barton.

Connolly joins the injury list alongside fellow defender James Gibbons, who fractured his foot in the victory over Burton Albion. Gibbons was also seen at the Memorial Stadium, donning a protective boot.

Gordon warming up alone

It is a common scene to see the back four practising dealing with aerial balls before the game, and this was no different with Rovers coach Kevin Bond kicking up for Alfie Kilgour, Luca Hoole and Lewis Gibson.

However unlike the rest of the defenders in the starting eleven, left-back Lewis Gordon was on his own with coach Danny Ventri for the warm up.

The away side kicking up a fuss

Shrewsbury players surrounded the referee and linesmen with 15 to go of the first half, with Jordan Rossiter judged to have collided with Tom Bayliss in an off the ball incident, however the referee disagreed and the game continued.

Shrewsbury play acting

It seemed as though every five minutes there was a Shrewsbury player on the deck, leading to a very scrappy and stop-start game, and lots of frustration from the Gasheads for the away side’s chosen tactics.

Their first half antics were summed up by Cheyenne Dunkley, who rolled around a lot and then proceeded to sprint back onto the pitch.

Watney Cup winners, you’ll never sing that!

The first of the Supporter Club caps were given to members of the Bristol Rovers side that won the Watney Cup 50 years ago this season and Tom Stanton, Harold Jarman, Stuart Taylor, Frankie Prince, Bruce Bannister and Mike Green were all presented with their caps at half time.

A new face in the dugout

Joey Barton returned from the tunnel for the second half with his football-mad eldest son, who ran across the pitch and into the home team dugout, before returning to the East Stand. He wans’t allowed to sit in the dugout but was nearby with Barton Snr fully focused on the game, but his coaches celebrated with him when Loft broke the deadlock.

The Barton family welcomed their fourth child on Wednesday, as Joey revealed on his Instagram account.

Reaction (or lack of) to Leahy and Cotterill

Many expected there to be very different crowd reactions to Luke Leahy and Steve Cotterill’s return to Bristol, with one being an ex-Rovers captain and the other being an ex-Bristol City manager. Cotterill applauded the home faithful when he walked off the pitch to the chorus of “s*** head” however Leahy wasn’t reminded of his time at the Gas from the Thatchers End.

Substitution mix up

Jordan Shipley came off the pitch with just over 15 minutes to go, however after a long delay it was revealed that Tom Bayliss was in fact the player that was supposed to be substituted, with referee Sam Purkiss looking as confused as everyone else.

Almost a great end for the Gas

Bizarrely, with little pressure on the ball and two minutes left to play, Salop substitute Tom Bloxham blasted the ball towards his own goal to the confusion of everyone inside the ground, and the fury of his own manager. Luckily for Bloxham, the effort against his own goal was off target.